Fly me to the Moon
by Elles Green
Summary: The last thing he remembered he was heading towards the sun. How had he ended up on the moon? -Based on the 1963 version- ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

Fly me to the moon

(Based on the 1963 version)The events following Astro's flight to the sun

**Disclaimer:(Set at the end of episode 193, and borrows the arm cannon from the 2003 version, but that's all) and see my page for the whole "I don't own it" rant. Also, Dr. Ochanimizu and Dr. O'Shay are the same person (different name).**

* * *

><p>Astro held tight to the bomb as he floated steadily to the sun. He stared at his target face on, ready for the inevitable. While trying his best to be brave, for his family, for his friends, for his planet, something deep down told him, he might not see them again. Even still, he would keep his promise. He turned back to see his planet one last time.<p>

"Don't worry guys; I'll get the sun back to normal." He promised the blue dot that was growing smaller by the minute.

While every human had left earth as a safety measure against the attack, Astro still felt the strong sense to protect it. Even though the humans were gone, he needed to make sure they had somewhere to go back to. Despite its many problems, there was still room for hope, still room for goodness…if you knew where to look.

_It's so beautiful…_

The bang was deafening, the humans up in their spaceships, and the robots watched in awe as a small red ring formed on the lower part of the sun and then disappeared. The silence was then broken by the cheering of millions; the earth was no longer in danger! However, the humans held off returning for nearly a month just to be on the safe side. Soon after though, the ships came back in small groups until the world's population was back.

By the time the year was out, every man, woman, and child, human and robot alike had been accounted for.

Except one…

"When's big brother coming back?" Uran pestered Dr. Ochanimizu for the third time that week.

"He should be back soon," he replied trying to sound certain "the sun is far away, between 147 and 152 million kilometers to be exact, and the magnetic pulls from the different planets must be affecting his navigation…"

He would always trail off with something to that effect, trying to use reason to convince others why Astro hadn't yet returned. But one would wonder, who was Dr. Ochanimizu really trying to convince? The public? Or himself?

* * *

><p>Another month went by.<p>

Then two.

Then three.

The Ministry of Science had calculated that with Astro moving at top speed, he would be back in either May or June. Only problem was that June was three months ago! Dr. Ochanimizu held firm to his belief that Astro would be back any day now. But many of his fellow colleagues (and much of the public), who weren't as optimistic, steadily lost hope that he would every return, sure that the bomb's impact on the sun had destroyed him.

Soon, even Dr. Ochanimizu felt that after a while, there was a part of him that also started to lose hope. As much as it saddened him, he had to keep a confident appearance at work. One day in a moment of introspective thinking, an idea came to him. The world needed their hero, a little piece of the machine called life that allowed it to run more smoothly. And what was done with machines who had missing parts? They were replaced! But while the Ministry lacked the necessary funds, it soon would be back in running order. His mind was made up.

One day, a new Astro would be built!


	2. Chapter 2

Dr. Ochanimizu paced back and forth in his office. Just how would a new Astro be built? A few times he thought of using Uran's design, which was virtually a copy of her brother's. But to build a new hero out of a copy of a copy? It just didn't seem right.

He had also considered getting outside help from other top scientists and engineers. It would be great to have some collaboration, that is, if there was anyone available. Everyone he could think of was either getting their organizations and cities back on their feet, or at least trying to keep it that way. Technically speaking, there was someone who could help. Someone who Dr. Ochanimizu's good conscious wouldn't allow him to consider.

No! There was no way he would let that no good Dr. Tenma know of his plan! This new Astro would not be part of some agenda! He would be proof of what robots could accomplish, how they could be treated as equal instead of as tools.

Dr. Ochanimizu stoped pacing for a moment. He couldn't believe it. He was starting to sound just like Tenma! Before he had completely gone off the deep end anyway. _This must have been how it all started._ He thought to himself as he turned to look out the window. _But right now, this city…no, this world needs a hero. The sooner things get back to normal the better._

It had saddened him greatly over the years. Humans and robots weren't that different. People were born and robots were built, people died and robots broke down. Robots could be rebuilt; enough times to be twice as strong, twice as smart, to outlive a human tenfold, but as a result they would never be the same again. And that's when it hit him.

Would it really be the same? Sure he would be a new hero to uphold the common good and give the public masses hope. But a new Astro? What was he thinking? No amount of programming, kokoro, or anything could possibly replicate the kind and just little robot boy that everyone had over time had grown to love (or grudgingly accept).

The new robot could be exact down to the last bolt, but it would never be the same. There was only one Astro, the only one that ever would be.

Dr. Ochanimizu sighed and turned away from the window. What was he going to do?

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile<em>

"We've finally done it!"

"Alert the Board of Agriculture, we have to let the chairman know right away!"

"Yes sir!"

After months of studying on the moon, a small group of researchers and biologists had finally stabilized a method for growing various crops on the moon.

"Chairman! This is Moon Base Six! We've finally yielded a substantial crop from control group B. Our current readings show that…"

The chairman's hearty laugh could be heard through the control room speakers. "Excellent news, boys…I'd say that's a 20% increase since you first started."

"Well, Base One and Four are at the same level we are, Three was having some trouble at first and…Chairman? Wait! Chairman! We're losing picture, the sig-"

But the screen had gone to static, the connection had been lost.

"What happened?"

"We lost the signal again…run a system scan to see if it can locate a problem."

"Yes sir." He quickly ran the software. "All data and processors are accounted for."

"That's strange, this is the fourth time this has happened. I'll send a message to the North District, maybe they know what's going on."

* * *

><p>"Rusty look! Satellite Three is down again!"<p>

"Again?"

"Yeah!"

Rusty sighed; those old things always had some problem or another. It baffled him how there was money to send mechanics like his co-worker Dave and himself into space, but not enough to properly replace old satellites.

"Does it say what's wrong with it?"

"Ahh…it looks like…"Dave scanned over the long strings of zeros and ones. "Some of the network transmitters around the back are damaged. Either that or it's counting down the days until Christmas…it's a little fuzzy right here…"

Rusty glanced unimpressed at the screen, then to Dave, and then back at the screen. "You sure you can read binary?"

"Of course I can! It's just…it's been a while, ok?"

"What are the two of you still doing here? I don't pay you to sit around here all day!" an angry voice yelled from down the hall.

"We were just leaving boss!" The two replied in unison as they raced out to avoid their boss's wrath.

* * *

><p>"Why is the boss so grumpy all the time?" Dave asked wearily as he drove the cruiser up to the satellite.<p>

"Who knows? But I'll tell you one thing; this job isn't worth the money. First chance I get I'm heading back to Earth, and if you're smart you'll do the same."

They arrived at the front of Satellite Three, all the panels on wiring looked normal.

"Ok, take her around the side."

"Right!" Dave said as he shifted the gear. But as they made their way around, something caught his eye.

"Hey Rusty? What's that?"

"What's what?"

Dave pointed down the side of the satellite.

"That's just the power grids."

"No, not that. THAT!"

"That's just a…OH MY GOD…."

* * *

><p>Wait, shifted gears? Why is the space cruiser a stick shift? Isn't everything automatic in the future?<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey boss! Look what we found!"

"What is that?" The boss said, recoiling in surprise.

"We don't know; it was stuck in the transmitter cables."

"Hmm, you got the satellite back in working order?"

"Yes sir, we did." Rusty answered.

"Then get rid of that thing. Put it out with the others."

Dave started to protest. "With the others? Isn't that kind of a waste? I mean…"

"Dave, we all know that that thing is too small to be of any use to us, it belongs out there with the rest of them!"

"But what if I can get it to work again? I can figure out its programming and Rusty-"

"Whoa, hey! Don't drag me into this!"

"You said you would help!"

"No I didn't!"

"That's enough you two." The boss sighed. "Alright, since things have been slow around here, I'll tell you what. "If" you can get that thing to work again, you can keep it. If not, out it goes."

Rusty was surprised "Boss?"

"Personally I don't care what you do with it. But we have regulations to follow; do you know what would happen if word got out that we were using old robot parts without proper clearing? They'd shut us down!"

"They can't do that!"

"They can, Dave. Right now we're the only ones with access to Zone Pink. With us out of the way, most of the broken down robots out there will be stolen and scrapped and who knows what else."

"That's right, now get to work."

"Yes sir!" they said in unison.

* * *

><p>"It's kinda cute, can't we keep it?"<p>

_You dumb blonde_ Rusty thought to himself. "Dave, we just figured out this thing runs on nuclear energy, and you want to keep it? If we start it up like this it could melt down!"

Dave though a moment. "Well what if we just take that part out?"

"You can't just "take it out"! What's it going to run on?"

"I don't know…I bet we have something around here."

"Even if we did, where are we going to find one small enough? How are…hey, what's with that look?"

"You know something." Dave smiled.

"About what?"

"You said "find", not "build"."

"Well it's not like I couldn't build one! I could easily…-Agghh! Fine!" Rusty stammered as he stormed out of the room.

"Wait, you're not actually going out there are you?"

* * *

><p>An hour later, Rusty was a few miles into Zone Pink. There had to be one around here he could use, or at least modify. Maybe he was just looking in the wrong section.<p>

Zone Pink was the largest robot graveyard in existence. Located on the dark side of the moon, it was the perfect spot to store hundreds of thousands of outdated and broken down models. Ones that couldn't be recycled.

It was also the perfect place to find spare parts for just about anything.

Rusty had been looking through countless old space ships for a hydrogen converter. If he could find one small enough, he could take it back to Dave to power up that thing they had found.

He wouldn't admit it, but what they had found had left him really uneasy. It looked like a doll, well actually too big to be a doll. It looked like a small boy if you ignored all the exposed metal and wires on its arms and face. How it got stuck in the satellite was beyond him.

_Bingo!_

Rusty had happened upon a smaller space cruiser with a hydrogen converter still attached. It was kind of boxy, but if he made a few changes, it was sure to work!

Dave had run the last scan on the little robot. It was amazing! It had no solid-state drives, yet there were memory files. Where did they all fit? It was the most advanced thing he had ever seen! He'd love to see just what it could do, if only Rusty would get back.

* * *

><p>"Where do you think you're going?"<p>

"Boss! Oh, I was checking up on the security shield on The Wall." It was a bad lie, but it was enough of a distraction for Rusty to slip the converter into his bag.

"Oh really? That's funny, the TASC video showed you going inside The Wall."

God, he hated that annoying security camera!

"I had to double reinforce it. But um, I was wondering" he needed to change the subject. "If Dave and I can't get that robot we found to work, where will it end up? From what I saw inside the wall, all we have is industrial size robots."

The boss chuckled. "Don't worry; we have a special place for things like that."

"Seriously?"

"You remember don't you?"

Rusty shook his head.

"All broken down humanoid robots are stored in bunkers just south of the ridge."

"So the inspectors don't freak out like last time?"

"More or less."

Rusty knew what "south of the ridge" meant. Every type of robot had a section they would be placed in based on type, so naturally there was an area of land set aside for robots who looked a little too human. Everyone who knew of Zone Pink had jokingly called that area "Uncanny Valley". Not just because it was an actual valley, but because after taking inventory there, one would notice that the human-like features on the robots were just that…uncanny.

Dave and Rusty had just finished installing the hydrogen converter.

"All we do now is start it up! The charge should hold at least an hour."

"Are you sure this is safe?"

Dave smiled. "Nope!"

"I'll just stand back here then."

With a few knobs turned and buttons pressed, the small converter started to hum, and then after a moment went silent.

"It broke!" Rusty cried.

"Wait look!"

Slowly, the exposed headlight of a left eye began to glow blue. And soon after, a more normal looking right eye opened.

Rusty was seriously getting creeped out, while Dave was perfectly calm, almost happy.

"Hey you're awake." Dave said to the little robot that was starting to sit up and look around.

"Dave, don't talk to it!"

"What? It looks human, and I bet it speaks like one too." Dave turned back to the robot. "Can you understand me?"

Long strings of binary code appeared on the monitor.

"No, use you voice. I know you have one. My name's Dave. What's your name?"

"My name is Astro."

* * *

><p>(Notes: 1. a hydrogen converter is what powers the Starship Enterprise 2. Uncanny Valley is actually a term used to describe the fear people feel when robots seem "too human" 3. TASC is an acronym for That Annoying Security Camera; I made that up in about 10 seconds.)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

"He should be fully charged by tomorrow."

Dave and Rusty stared down at the table where Astro lay.

"Too bad we don't have any synthetic skin; it's not good for all those wires to be exposed and…Rusty?"

Rusty had gone to the other end of the room to sit down, and was now rubbing his eye with the heel of his hand.

"You ok?"

Rusty sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine…just tired."

But he didn't sound fine, something was up. Dave turned to finish powering down the extra monitors.

"Dave?"

"Yeah?"

Rusty hesitated for a moment. "Are you seriously going to keep that thing?"

"I guess so…I mean, unless someone wants him back."

"What if someone does?"

"Does what?"

"Want it back?"

Robots were sent to Zone Pink to be rid of and forgotten. Antique collectors had come and gone, so the idea of someone coming to get him was pretty far-fetched.

"Think about it. A robot that advanced and custom designed must have come from somewhere. I mean, who would invest all that only to have it lost in space?"

Dave looked down at Astro with a slight slump in his shoulders. And in that moment, Rusty put it all together.

"I don't believe it." Rusty said incredulously as he stood up. "You've gotten attached to it, haven't you?"

Dave started to get defensive. "No I'm not!"

"You're good at many things, but lying isn't one of them. I see that look on your face, the way you always talk about it-"

"He's not an it! He has a name you know!"

Rusty crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.

"Ok, maybe I am a little bit." He said, turning away to hide and embarrassed blush. "So what?"

"It's only going to be that much harder when someone comes to get it."

"Him."

Rusty rolled his eyes. "Ok, when someone comes to get _him_."

"I guess…things have just been so boring around here…"

"Still, it's not healthy to get to fond of it."

"Would you rather I be like you instead? To be so detached that I can just fix things and send them on their way without a care?"

"Well, it would make things easier."

Dave stared him down coldly. "For someone who doesn't like androids you sure are acting like one. You're just as disconnected as they are, maybe even more."

"Dave…"

"I can't do that like you can, excuse me for being only human."

Rusty looked out the window to see the sun rising, a rare sight on the moon.

"We should get to sleep."

He then turned and left the room, sliding to door behind him. As he walked down the hallway, he wondered how anyone could care so much about some animatronic doll? He wasn't worried that he didn't care enough, but instead, that Dave cared too much.

And it scared him.


	5. Chapter 5

Guess what? Astro's actually in this chapter! Even though he can't quite form full sentences yet! But who cares? He's in it! (I'm exhausted right now) ~ E.G.

* * *

><p>"This is the moon?"<p>

"Yup, Moon Base 19, Zone Pink."

Astro was beyond confused. The last thing he remembered he was heading towards the sun. How had he gotten here? Oh wait, Dave was saying something to him.

"...everything seems to be accounted for. Except for parts of your arm and face. They still work -don't worry about that- it just looks a little..." He paused for a moment trying to find the right word. "different."

Astro looked down at his arm. Layers of artificial skin had been burned away to reveal gleaming metal and various wires and cables. He wasn't afraid; instead he inspected his arm with a small sense of wonder. He started to wonder what his face looked like. Would anyone recognize him? He had to know.

"I have to go."

"What?"

"Back on Earth…I have to tell everyone…the sun's better now!"

He got down from the table and was getting ready to go into a full powered run until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I'd hold off on that if I were you." Dave warned

"No! I can't! I have to-"

"You're not ready to go back yet."

"Why not?"

"Listen Astro, you might not know this, but we had to make a few changes to get you working again."

Astro looked up at him.

"We had to entirely replace your energy core. Atomic energy doesn't exist up here, so he had to switch it out for hydrogen instead. It will probably do you more good in the long run too. But if you were to make it to Earth's atmosphere, the gravity and friction would be too great on impact. There's a good chance you would fall apart."

Dave made it sound so simple.

"Turn on the light in your hand if you don't believe me."

He turned the light on in his hand, the ring on his palm glowing blue instead of its usual orange. Blue, just like...

"Earth...what about..."

"Astro, I'm sure everyone is fine." he tried to reassure.

"But the sun...it's going to..."

"The sun isn't in any danger. Really it isn't. I remember there was a scare about it overheating a couple years ago, but that's been over for a while now..."

"Every one's safe?"

"Well yeah, why wouldn't they be?"

Astro felt like he was really missing something.

Dave sighed. "I know, you want to go home. I'll tell you what, I could get Boss to send a message to earth explaining your situation, and maybe some one can come up and get you. It would probably be safer and – oh that reminds me!" Dave let go of Astro's shoulder and stood up. "You haven't met Boss yet. Or Rusty. It was actually his idea to switch you to hydrogen, come on!"

Astro still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he was feeling a little better.

* * *

><p>Rusty and Boss were in the main hallway trying to fix the security camera.<p>

"I don't see anything wrong with it." Rusty called down from the ladder.

"It said the whole system was jammed; look through the control box again."

"Alright, alright..." Rusty pretended to look through the box again, pretended not to see the restart switch. He didn't want Boss to know that he had been the one to jam the camera in the first place.

"There you are!"

"Oh, hey Dave, what's up?" Rusty asked while climbing down the ladder.

"I want you guys to meet Astro." He smiled as Astro stepped out from behind him. Dave went on to ramble about how he had been all fixed up.

Boss looked at Rusty. "Is that the thing you got off that satellite?" he mumbled nervously.

Rusty nodded.

"Any idea where it came from?"

"I dunno. It looks pretty advanced. Probably Japanese."

"Hello." Astro said with a polite bow.

"Definitely Japanese." they both muttered.

Dave then finished up on his rant. "So what's going on here?"

"The security camera is jammed again and we're trying to fix it." Boss informed.

"Need some help?"

"No I got it! All under control don't worry!" Rusty stammered a little too quickly, not wanting his secret blown. "So...uh...what are you doing?"

"I'm just giving Astro a tour around the base and stuff. You look pretty busy so we'll quit bugging you."

"It was nice to meet you." Astro waved as he followed Dave away.

"You too." Boss waved back with the best smile he could muster.

Rusty started to turn back towards the ladder. "Yeah, see you around."

"OK!" Astro smiled before he disappeared around the corner.

* * *

><p>Boss and Rusty were quiet for a moment.<p>

"I didn't think about it much before, but..."

"Yeah?"

"It is kinda creepy looking when it moves." Boss admitted quietly.

"I know..."

* * *

><p>"What was wrong with the camera?"<p>

Dave shrugged and smiled. "Oh, the usual. Rusty probably jammed it again so he could sneak outside without anyone finding out."

"Why does he do that?"

Dave glanced out the window towards the Wall. "I don't know."


	6. Chapter 6

For some reason I felt really awkward typing up this chapter…it's just an awkward chapter, I think… ~ E.G

* * *

><p>"Alright, the report is now sent."<p>

All the major science corporations throughout the world would now that Astro had been found.

Dave sighed.

"Come Dave; you know this is the right thing to do."

"I know."

"Besides, you've fixed up others and sent them back. There was Tsuki, and Diane, and Boris. I don't remember you getting this sad about letting them go."

"Yeah, but they were different. This is different."

"How so?" Boss asked

"It's tough to explain…"

* * *

><p>Dr. Ochanimizu couldn't believe his eyes. Astro had been found? Why, this was nothing short of a miracle! All he needed was a few days. A few days to get a team together. A few days to bring Astro home.<p>

* * *

><p>Meanwhile<p>

A large space craft hovered over a few hundred yards over Zone Pink.

"There it is."

"Does he really keep them all there?"

"That's what these records say. And if they're right, these robots will be worth a fortune."

"But how will we get them out? There's no way to get in there!"

A smooth voice interrupted them.

"Lock everything down, get ready to land."

"Do what?"

"If we do that, Dave will chase us off again! Not unless we got into the base, but there's cameras everywhere!

The smo"We don't need to get to them in there."

"We don't?"

"Don't worry you two; I have a way to make them come to us."

* * *

><p>(I know, it's really short, the next chapter will be longer I swear!)<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

See? Rusty's not that much of a jerk. He's more of a...selective jerk, who gets fed up with Dave sometimes. But he's not bad. ~E.G

* * *

><p>Later that day, Rusty was making his way along the steep paths that lead down into the Uncanny Valley. He arrived at the rows of bunkers; this was it, "South of the Ridge". The cold metal shells housing all the deactivated or otherwise broken down androids brought back a strange feeling for Rusty. A feeling that he forgot he needed to forget. But this was no time for introspective thinking; there was work to be done!<p>

With toolbox in hand he went down the row of bunkers until he reached the one he knew so well. After hitting a few buttons, the door slid open, and he stepped inside.

* * *

><p>Rusty walked past the rows and rows of androids, trying to ignore the dim overhead lights reflecting off their lifeless stares. He was self-conscious of every step, feeling like these robots were watching him, judging him. Never mind that in their current state, they couldn't see him anyway.<p>

He came to the end of the row and headed along the back wall to the opposite corner where he had left her. Maura, an android girl who was missing an arm and both legs from the knees down. Today he would make one of her dreams come true.

Rusty tilted her head forward and opened a panel on the back of her neck. There was a soft hum and a few clicks as she started up and lifted her head.

"Maura, can you hear me?"

"Rusty..."

Rusty smiled and ruffled her hair.

"I'm back now, and look what I brought with me."

He reached into his toolbox and pulled out something that made Maura's eyes widen. "Is that?"

"I brought both of them; they're all fixed up now. Come on, let's get these on."

"OK!"

* * *

><p>As Rusty was adjusting a few of the joints, Maura spoke.<p>

"Rusty?"

"Hmm?"

"What's Dave like?"

"Dave?"

"I hear you talk about him a lot. You even said I would soon meet him. What's he like?"

Rusty clicked the outer covering back into place and then opened up the next one. He disconnected a few wires.

"Well for starters, he's a lot taller than me." He reconnected them and Maura giggled.

"And um, he can be kinda spacey."

"Spacey?"

"Yeah, kind of off in his own world. Always curious, always thinking up new ideas and trying them out. Granted, those ideas don't always work, be he has his heart in the right place."

"Heart…?" Maura placed her hand on her chest.

"Actually that's another thing. Dave isn't exactly like us..." Maura looked down at him curiously.

"Alright! Everything's attached. Here, give me your hand and I'll help you down."

Rusty set Maura down gently as she tried to balance herself on her new legs.

* * *

><p>Maura held out her arm to steady herself. Slowly she lifted her foot and took a small step.<p>

"That's it, now try the other one."

She looked down at her other foot but as she tried to lift it, she staggered.

"If I take another step I'll fall!" she cried.

"No you won't."

"Yes I will, my degree of balance is off and-"

"Maura look at me. If you do fall, I'll catch you. Don't worry."

Maura nodded and stood up a little bit straighter. With that same foot she shifted her ankle, and took a bigger step. A little bit awkward, but the step was still a step. She looked up at Rusty with a huge smile.

"There you go!"

Feeling confident she took another step, and then another, until her footfalls became more even.

Rusty held out his arms. "Almost there!"

Maura tried to close the distance between them as fast as she could. Rusty caught her as she flopped into his chest, her one arm hugging around him tightly.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

* * *

><p>Rusty's arms tightened around her as one had reached up to ruffle her pixie short hair again. But this time his hand slowly traveled down to the back of her neck. The small panel clicked open. Maura snuggled closer into Rusty's chest and looked up at him adoringly.<p>

Rusty clicked the switch, and soon the light in Maura's eyes was replaced by the dim overhead light reflecting off of them.

He hated doing this to her, but to him, it was a lot nicer than having her awake and worrying about him. He lifted Maura's body and secured it back on the wall so it wouldn't fall down. Soon he would be back with another arm for her, and then he'd be able to get her out of here.

Rusty picked up his toolbox and turned to leave. He reached the door and looked back at Maura one last time. He started to feel self-conscious again, with Maura's lifeless eyes looking right at him. Watching him, judging him, never mind that in her condition, she couldn't see him anyway.

* * *

><p>Rusty was almost out of the valley when he heard a voice that gave him a start.<p>

"Rusty! There you are!"

"Astro? What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you that. Dave sent me to look for you!"

"Did he now?"

"Yeah!"

Astro came to a stop and peered down into the valley. "What's down here anyway?"

Rusty walked over to Astro's side, also looking back down into the valley with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You're pretty lucky, you know that?"

Astro looked up at him, confused. "I am?"

"Oh yeah. You're lucky that Dave was able to fix you up."

Astro noticed his forlorn tone. "Dave said that you helped too. I guess I haven't thanked you properly for that."

"What, the hydrogen converter? It was nothing, I'm out here a lot anyway."

"Still, I want to say thank you."

"No problem, how's it working out for you? Runing on hydrogen?"

"Actually I'm still getting used to it. Everything seems so much brighter, and faster…"

"Yeah it'll do that."

The two of them looked down into the valley for a short while.

"It really was lucky…that Dave was able to fix you up so quickly…" Rusty trailed off.

Astro looked up at him again.

"Otherwise you would have ended up here." Astro's eye widened, so that was it.

"South of the Ridge?"

Rusty nodded.

"Uncanny Valley?"

"Yup."

"…Dave said that all the androids are down there, all shut down."

"Well they had to be put there."

Rusty glanced at Astro and quickly glanced back.

"We used to have inspections up here, to make sure everything was accounted for. But that was before we put everything into strict catagories. One time we had a few of the inspectors nearly pass out. They said they found it deeply disturbing that there were androids, humanoids especially, mixed in with everything else."

"How come?"

"I don't know, I think some of them actually thought they were other humans, and it freaked them out when they found out otherwise."

"So they're all here? Hidden away?"

Rusty sighed. "I don't agree with it either, but it's their rule not ours. Good news is that Dave and I have been able to repair some."

"Where are they?"

"Back on Earth now, but we're far from done, so far we've only fixed three." Rusty walked back over to get his tool box.

_Three? But Dave said that there had been-_

Astro was about to say something when a large dark shadow fell over him. He looked straight up and turned around to see a large space craft hovering high over them.

"Oh my god…" Rusty muttered. "It can't be!"

The ship was getting closer at an alarmingly fast rate.

"Astro! See if you can read those words there under that insignia, it's too far for me to make out!"

"OK! It says…" He focused his eye, zooming in on the words. "…Populuxe?"

"Populuxe! Oh no! No no no no no!" Astro was awestruck by the ship while Rusty was panicking.

"You need to get back to the base and warn Boss and Dave!"

"But what about you?"

"Leave me here, I'll be fine! I need you to tell Dave that Christoph is back!"

"Christoph?"

"Populuxe is his ship! Trust me; he's someone you don't want to run into! Now go! There isn't much time!"

* * *

><p>Astro blasted off, heading back to the bas at record speed.<p>

But as he was flying he wondered. Who was Christoph? Why was he bad? Soon a bigger question came back to him. Rusty had said that there had been three androids that were fixed.

But Dave had said there had been five, who were the other two?

* * *

><p>(The plot thickens! *dramatic music*)<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Yes it's been forever! I know! I should have updated sooner! Things have been…

You've all been so patient!

On with the story!

* * *

><p>Astro was lucky that he didn't have much atmosphere to slow him down. He was flying fairly fast…maybe a little too fast. Not that he could allow himself to slow down, this was an emergency!<p>

In a swift movement he touched down on moon's dry surface and ran the rest of the way until he reached the air lock. Why did this thing take so long to open?

Once he was inside, he nearly ran past Dave in his mad dash.

"Astro, what is it?"

"Rusty told me to come back here, and to warn you! There's a ship, and Rusty got scared, and-"

"Whoa, slow down a minute. What ship?"

"The ship said…"he paused for a moment trying to remember. "Populuxe."

The color drained from Dave's face.

"Dave?"

He shook his head and turned away. "I don't believe this."

"Dave? Hey wait, where are you going?"

"He thinks he can just come back here and- Astro, come with me."

They headed down the hall, Astro managing to keep up Dave's strides. He stopped at a door and hit a few buttons, the door slightly humming as it slid open.

"In here!"

Once they were in Astro looked around. One wall was lined with tools and another with shelves of boxes, crates, and quite a few other things. They were in the workshop….why where they in the workshop?

Dave finally broke the silence. "So I take it Rusty told you? About Christoph?"

Astro nodded. "He says he's dangerous."

"Did he go into any details?"

"Not really, he just panicked."

_Just like last time…_

"He had every right to…" he trailed off.

Astro noticed Dave's weary tone, it was quite unlike him. "It doesn't sound like this is the first time he's been here."

Dave chuckled. "Oh no, Cristoph and I go pretty far back. Actually when you think about it…we're not all that different.

_Trust me; he's someone you don't want to run into! _Rusty's words echoed back through Astro's mind.

Dave noticed the look of surprise coming over Astro's face.

"No, not like that. Neither of us are too happy about all the robots up here collecting dust, but…" Dave turned and hit a switch. "we have different ways of going about it."

Suddenly, Astro felt something pulling him back, by the time he registered what was happening, he was stuck.

"Hey!"

Dave had magneted Astro to the wall with the rest of the tools!

"Why are you doing this?"

"Astro, let me ask you something. How many pieces do you want to be in when you get back to Earth?"

Now it all made sense. "He's…a scrapper?"

Dave nodded sadly.

"See that's where we're different. I do everything I can to send robots back in one peice. Christoph...not so much."

Astro's eye widened. "He would do that?"

"At least. It's sad really; he'd see your heart of gold and only see dollar signs. Money's the only thing he sees at all these days."

"But wait, I can help! If we can just reason with him."

"It's not him who's the real threat. He's annoying but he's relatively easy to scare off. He's got these…henchmen, you could say. Awful things, they destroy everything in sight. You know this base used to be bigger? They tore almost half of it down!"

"So you're going out there by yourself?"

"It worked last time."

Astro had never seen Dave look this serious, and frankly, it scared him.

"Relax Astro, I'm only going to talk to him." Though the tension in his posture suggested otherwise. "I only hope I'm not too late."

"Dave, NO! DON'T-"

But just like that he was gone, and Astro was alone. Stuck to a wall, and alone.

* * *

><p>This chapter was brought to you by the new Astro Boy fridge magnet! (Astro: "It's not funny!") Oh, I'm terrible :)<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Fly me to the Moon Chapter 9

[A/N]: Sorry for the long wait. College workload has been…yeah…*brain deflates*

Alright, so let's review. So far I've sent Astro into the Sun, partially blown him up, burned off the skin on half of his face and arm, sent him halfway across the solar system, got him stuck in a satellite, had his power source converted, kept him stuck on the Moon to avoid a 'dead spin' if he tried to re-enter Earth's atmosphere, and to top it all off, I had Dave magnet him to a wall for his own safety.

I've really abused the poor kid haven't I? Let's have this chapter feature him, it's the least I can do.

* * *

><p>"Dave wait!"<p>

Astro did all he could to free himself from the magnetic grip of the wall.

"I can help you!"

Why was this so difficult? Astro had been stuck in magnets before, but none of them ever like this. He looked around frantically for something he could use to get down. The lever across the room! Of course! If he could manage to hit it with his arm cannon, the wall would lose its magnetism!

But that required peeling his arm off the wall first. He had to try.

With all the effort he could muster he pulled up with his arm. Just a little bit more, a little bit farther! Astro began to feel his arm lifting off the wall. It was working! It was…

CLANG!

…not working.

Astro sighed with frustration. Why was this magnet was so strong? He looked closely at the words underneath the wall's lever.

_Designed for…zero gravity? _That seemed a bit much for a repair shop. Even though the Moon's gravity wasn't as strong as the Earth's, a regular sheet magnet would have worked just as well. Seemed a little suspicious.

Astro started to worry; he knew where Dave was going, to confront that ship. But what about Rusty? The valley? This station? Dave had said something about this base being bigger at one point. If Christoph had been the one to destroy it, what did he have in mind now? One man couldn't stop him alone.

If only he could help. He closed his eye sadly. There had to be a reason Dave stuck him here, he was a good person after all, Astro could tell. Suddenly his ears picked up a faint sound, the faint sound of even footsteps. Someone was coming this way! With a powerful tug, Astro turned his head towards the door, which opened to reveal…

* * *

><p>"You've got some nerve coming back here." Dave muttered under his breath as he approached the ship. He had been dreading seeing the Populuxe again, but old memories would have to wait. <em>He probably hasn't even changed the security codes. His mistake… <em>Dave thought darkly.

Sure enough he hadn't, getting through the airlock was simple. Almost too simple. He suddenly realized that he had been lead right into a trap. The outside codes hadn't been changed, but the inside ones had. And now he was stuck here inside the ship, with no way to go but back out. Exactly what Christoph wanted. Why hadn't he figured it out sooner? Dave could just kick himself. _Just like him to do something like this!_

He wasn't going to let that stop him; he'd break down the control room door if he had to!

* * *

><p>"You're the one making all that noise?"<p>

Astro was so happy he thought he might cry. "Boss! Boy am I glad to see you!"

"How'd you get up there on the wall?"

"Dave put me here. He put me here and left! To go after that ship Rusty and I saw near the valley."

Boss crossed his arms over his chest. "So he's back…"

* * *

><p><em>Don't play games with me! <em>Dave had found the control room door and was standing outside it angrily. This was getting ridiculous!

"Who is it?" Christoph asked teasingly.

_You know damn well who it is._ But Dave couldn't say that out loud. As much as he wanted to bash Christoph's face in, he tried to keep his tone of voice even. He had said he was just going to talk to him, and that was what he had planned to do.

For now.

"Chris, it's Dave."

"Dave?"

"Yeah, open the door."

"…Dave's not here!"

Dave sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. After all these years he still acted like a little kid.

* * *

><p>"I guess he didn't go into detail about what happened last time Christoph was here."<p>

"Not really, just that there used to be more to this place before he wrecked most of it."

"Well kid, this building isn't the only thing." Boss unzipped his jacket and took it off as Astro gasped in shock. Much of Boss's internal metal structure showed through the large holes on his chest. Rods, wires, all of it! Shining in the white artificial light. "Keep in mind, all this was after Dave had fixed me up. There used to be a lot more to me too."

"He…he did that to you?"

Is that why Dave had kept him here? So he wouldn't end up even more damaged like Boss?

"I really don't wanna go into all the details. But you can likely guess what happened."

* * *

><p>"Open up the door it's Dave!" Tearing the door off of its sliding track was looking like a good option at this point. He felt like he was even angry enough to do it.<p>

"Who?"

_Oh stop it already!_ "Dave! D! A! V! E! Will you open up the goddamn door?!"

"Dave?"

"Yeah…Dave…" This was exhausting. "Open the door."

The door finally slid open.

"Well," Christoph said finally. "It's been nearly a year and a half and _this _is how you say hello to your little brother?"

* * *

><p>"Dave used to work on much bigger robots than you and me, which might be why he underestimates you. And Rusty? He's always so secretive who knows what he's up to or what's on his mind."<p>

Boss took a few steps back and rested his hand on the lever. "But I can see it kid, you've got something different. They're already countin' you out."

He pulled the lever and Astro stumbled onto the floor.

"I don't care how you do it. But prove those two wrong."

Astro pushed himself up, and if there were more time he would have likely given Boss a hug. But that would have to wait for now. "I will!" With that Astro ran out the door and down the hall.

"Hey Astro!" Boss called after him.

"Yeah?"

"Uncanny Valley's the other way!"

Silly mistake, Astro turned around and ran past the door the other direction. "Right!"

He took to the sky once he was out of the air lock, his now blue jets driving him forward. At this rate he would be there in a minute or less, but he had to be careful. He saw the ship up ahead and realized that he could be a target for the Populuxe's guns if he didn't hide quickly. Astro looked down over the moon's barren landscape. Where would he hide?

He found a large crater and dove for it. Peering over the edge he saw that the ship was a few hundred feet to his right, while the valley was only a few yards to his left.

Suddenly, Astro's ears picked up a strange frequency; it started off like crackling static but as he enhanced his hearing, he heard that it was a voice, talking…talking to him!

_"Astro! Can you hear me?"_

"…Rusty? Is that you?" He looked around. "Where are you?"

_"Behind the hull inside the ship. Dave's already inside and I don't think they know I'm here."_

Nice! "I'm going to head over too!"

_"No! Astro, I need you somewhere else."_

"Huh?"

_"Get down to the valley. The robots stored down there are what Christoph is after. I need you to be their first line of defense!"_

"OK!" Astro climbed out of the crater.

_"Wait, one more thing."_

"Yeah?"

_"Keep your eye out for anything moving down there. All the robots are shut off so if you find something…shoot it."_

"You can count on me!"

Astro headed down into the valley, and came to a soft landing outside the row of bunkers. Blaster out and ready to fire.

"Alright..." Astro said softly.

Astro's eye scanned over all the bunkers as his ears amplified any and every sound, which on the moon, wasn't very much. He could sense all the androids locked inside, in their artificial sleep. All was quiet.

Astro's ears then picked up a small noise, the sound of metal scraping across a hard floor. It was coming from the third bunker down the row!

There was no time to waste!


End file.
